GEORGE MICHAEL FALLS OUT OF CAR TRAVELING 70 MPH

English superstar George Michael, who suffered a near-fatal bout of pneumonia in late 2011, reportedly fell out of a car going 70 mph, according to an eye witness and reported by the U.K.’s Independent.

Michael, who was the passenger, was airlifted by helicopter to a local hospital, where he remains as this piece was written. His spokesperson said, “”He has a couple of bumps and grazes and cuts to the head, but he’s making good progress and looking forward to getting out.”

The witness, 23-year-old Katherine Fox, said she provided protection on the M1 motorway near London so that the 49-year-old former Wham! singer wouldn’t get run over by high-speed traffic. The M1 Motorway, the British version of a freeway, runs from London to Leeds in northern England. Fox said that she was told that Michael’s door hadn’t closed properly and he fell out when he tried to fix it.

She added, “There was a nasty cut on his forehead and the back of his head. There was blood all down his face and on his teeth. He was breathing and conscious but in shock.”

In 2010, Michael got a two-month prison sentence and received a five-year driving ban after crashing his car while driving stoned. In 2006, he got a two-year driving ban and 100 hours of community service after he was found passed out in his car, again, after smoking pot.

BON JOVI RIPS BIEBER, LECTURES HIM ON NOT BECOMING A (BLANK)

Jon Bon Jovi just turned 51. He’s been a major star for nearly three decades, ever since his band, Bon Jovi’s self-titled debut album went double-platinum in 1984. Justin Bieber just turned 19 and has been a huge teen idol for three years, although it might seem a lot longer.

Lately, Beiber’s behavior has drawn the attention of the older, far more experienced singer from New Jersey. Beiber has been woefully late onstage at two shows on his British and European tour, including for a big London gig, where he was more than two hours late. After that show, he blamed “technical difficulties.”

Also, he recently threatened the life of a photographer; he ditched his pet monkey in Germany; he was caught smoking pot; and his gangster-ish behavior may be turning off his fans. This may explain why he was loudly booed at last Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas when he accepted the Milestone Award.

Bon Jovi told Britain’s Evening Standard, “Every generation has guys that do that, none of that is new. They run the risk of disrespecting their audience members who have worked hard to pay for their ticket, to give you the permission to take two or three hours of their lives – or in that kid’s case, 80 minutes of their lives. Do it once, you can be forgiven. Do it enough times and shame on you. They won’t have you back. Then it just becomes a clich?. It’s really not cool – you’re an (blank)hole. Go to (blanking) work!”

Of course, the singer was asked about the prolonged absence on Bon Jovi’s current world tour of his band’s other frontman, guitarist Richie Sambora, who has had problems with alcohol and missed 13 gigs during the group’s 2011 tour (Canadian Phil X is subbing). His reply, “It’s getting more and more difficult every day to not just sit here and say something, because all I can say is this: it’s for personal reasons. He’s been through it before.Fortunately for us the same guy who filled in last time was available this time.”

To the U.K.’s Daily Mirror he added, “”He’s not fired, we didn’t have a fight, it certainly isn’t about money. We go back 30 years. He can return when he is ready to die every night the way I walk on the stage. It’s different without Richie. No one’s mad, no one’s sad.”

REUNIONS: R.E.M., NO; FANIA ALL-STARS, YES

After 31 years, popular Athens, Ga. alt rockers R.E.M. called it a day in 2011, four years after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The trio that consisted of singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills (drummer Bill Berry retired in 1997 and became a farmer) posted on its website, “As lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished.”

Apparently, they meant it. Mills told Rolling Stone, “We said we’re done and we’re done. If we honestly thought there was a chance of a reunion tour, we might have said so at the time.”

Mills added that the three of them remain good, close pals. There were no real factors other than deciding it was time to break up,” says Mills. As for the usual reasons for ending the band, he said, “There’s no drug abuse. There’s no in-fighting. There’s no legal problems. It was time to break up.

That’s never really been done before. The idea of breaking up and not reforming for a reunion tour is kind of attractive to us. I doubt you’ll see us touring as R.E.M. again. On the other hand, I just played with Peter (Buck) in New York City the other night, so fun things do happen.”

Such is not the case with salsa band, The Fania All-Stars, who formed in New York City in 1968 and were huge in Latin circles and Third World countries in the ’70 s. In 1974, they played before 44,000 fans in Yankee Stadium, and a few months earlier they headlined a gig in Zaire (Africa), with James Brown before 80,000 people prior to the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight title fight.

The band’s concept was that all 15 musicians would essentially be their own band leader. That concept and the band fell apart in the ’80 s. There have been reunions over the decades.

The Fania All-Stars will reunite in Los Angeles at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel on May 25 for a performance at La Salsa Congress International Latin Music & Dance Festival, reports Rolling Stone. They’re calling the reunion “Legends of Salsa” because of legal reasons.

Original All-Stars singers Ismael Maranda and Adalberto Santiago will star.

Miranda, who was only 19 when he joined the group in 1969, says, “The old guys became my friends and mentors. Sadly, I’ve seen most of them pass away, one after the other. Now I see it as my responsibility to keep this music alive. I want it to go on forever.”

THE DOORS KEYBOARD PLAYER RAY MANZAREK DIES

Ray Manzarek, whose trademark keyboard work as co-founder of L.A. band The Doors provided a signature for some of the biggest hits of the ’60 s and ’70 s, died at age 74 in a hospital in Rosenheim, Germany, after a long fight with bile duct cancer.

The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and were presented with a Lifetime Achievement by the Grammys in 2007, the same year they received their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The L.A. quartet’s debut single in January 1967, “Break On Through,” bombed, but its next 45 that followed three months later, “Light My Fire,” that kicks off with Manzarek’s now iconic organ, guaranteed the band international overnight stardom. In 1998, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (joined by their 1971 smash, “Riders on the Storm” in 2010). It’s also ranked No. 35 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The Doors’ first six albums each hit the Billboard Top 200 Top 10, with the initial three LPs, “The Doors,” “Strange Days” and “Waiting for the Sun,” each reaching the Top 3 with “Sun” topping the chart in 1968. Their first concert LP, “Absolutely Live,” came out in July 1970 between the No. 4 charting “Morrison Hotel” and 1971’s No. 9 “L.A. Woman,” also was a Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 8. The foursome sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and were the first American group to rack up eight straight gold albums.

The Doors officially disbanded in 1971, two years after the mysterious death in Paris of the band’s singer and focus of attention, the controversial Jim Morrison, at age 27.

Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger, with whom Manzarek recorded and toured for decades in their ceaseless efforts to keep their music alive, wrote, “Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison were the two most unusual people I have ever known. It didn’t take long to realize this about Jim. He was obviously a genius, and he worked hard at being different. Did a good job of it too.”

“Ray on the other hand, was a late bloomer. I guess it took all of his (and our) energies to keep Jim in line. The real Ray didn’t appear until after Jim was gone. He was constantly doing projects with different people, producing, playing with different poets. He always saw the good side of people, and that was his genius. He was the only guy at UCLA that saw something good about Jim. Everyone else thought of Jim as a phony or worse.”

“He saw the genius of Jim’s words and the rest is history. Ray sure did influence my life, and I hope yours to. I’ll always be grateful to John for introducing me to Ray and Jim, and I’ll never forget them.”

Doors drummer John Densmore, with whom Manzarek and Krieger fought for decades in print and in court, wrote, “There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison’s words. Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother.”

It didn’t take long for the tributes to come pouring in. Alice Cooper, who, with The Doors, were fixtures on the Sunset Strip in the late ’60 s, where The Doors were the house band at the famed Whiskey a Go-Go, tweeted, “Absolutely stunned by the loss of my old friend Ray Manzarek of The Doors… Stunned. RIP Ray.” Slash tweeted, “RIP Ray Manzarek, words cannot express…,” while “Late Night With David Letterman” bandleader Paul Shaffer sent, “The sound of Ray Manzarek’s organ will forever reverberate in the cathedral of Rock and Roll.” Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry’s tweet read, “I am very saddened by the loss of Ray Manzarak – now he’s with Jim. They mean as much to me today as they did 40 years ago.”

Pasadena Star-News Editor Frank Girardo summed it up, writing in an opinion piece that Manzarek “defined the sound of the Doors, the band that provided a sound track for the Vietnam War era with its psychedelic acid-fueled late ’60 s L.A. blues. Sure Jim Morrison gave us the poetry, but Manzarek set it to music.”

DARIUS RUCKER RESPONDS TO RACIST TWEET

Hootie & The Blowfish leader Darius Rucker, who is black, took a blatant musical turn to country in 2008 and has been mightily successful at it.

Last weekend, he performed at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and dug out Bob Dylan’s partial song, “Wagon Wheel,” that was completed in 2003 by rootsy Americana string band Old Crow Medicine Show. The song got a positive reception from the fans in attendance.

However, he got a tweet from one “pqkullman” reading, “Leave country to the white people.” The 47-year-old Rucker’s response, “Is this 2013 or 1913? I’ll take my grand ole Opry membership and leave your racism. WOW.”

The twitter account has since been deactivated.

BRIAN WILSON AUTOBIOGRAPHY TO BE PUBLISHED

Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson’s autobiography will be published in late 2015, reports his publisher, Per Da Capo Press. The publishers state that “Wilson will describe, for the first time, the epic highs and lows of his life – from his tumultuous relationship with his father, the loss of his mother and brothers, his fears about live performance, and the struggles he faced to lead the Beach Boys away from surf music into experimental terrain, to his remarkable personal and professional comeback from drug addiction and mental illness with the support of his second wife, Melinda. He will share a new level of emotional honesty never before expressed in earlier books about him.”

What’ interesting is that Amazon describes Wilson’s 1996 memoir, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice: My Own Story” this way: “This autobiography describes Wilson’s 20-year nightmare of drug addiction, alcoholism, obesity and mental illness. He spent three years alone in his room. He lost his family, and he nearly lost his life. It is a frank discussion of what destroyed his life and of the controversial forces which helped to save it.”

The week of July 20-27, Wilson and former bandmates Al Jardine and David Marks will tour together, since Mike Love, who owns the Beach Boys brand, i.e., name, hasn’t invited them to continue in the band as he and Bruce Johnston tour the U.S. The trio will play six dates in the Great Lakes region, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The three will also headline an evening at L.A.’s Greek Theatre on Oct. 20.

ROLLING STONES AT THE HONDA CENTER

I caught The Rolling Stones’ “50 and Counting Tour” at Anaheim’s Honda Center. The band emerged from underneath the giant mouth logo stage, jumping right into their 1965 classic, “Get Off of My Cloud” and two songs later delivering another 1954 biggie, “Paint It Black,” with its pounding bolero crescendo driven by 71-year-old drummer Charlie Watts.

Sounding in mid-season form, the band showcased 22 songs, rocking the house for two-and-a-half-hours. The set was a fan pleaser, loaded with hits and devoid of any deep cuts. At select shows, including this one, they are performing “Emotional Rescue,” the title song of the band’s No. 1 LP from 1981. Mick Jagger’s high falsetto in perfect shape; impressive for a man who will turn 70 in July.

This was unlike the Staples Center show a few nights later when it was Chestnut City. That night, they dug out “Sway” with Mick Taylor (the first time on this tour that the band gave him four songs onstage instead of one or two), the countrified “Far Away Eyes” from 1977’s “Some Girls” and “Let It Bleed’s” “You Got the Silver” from 1969 with Keith Richards on vocals.

Speaking of Jagger, the man is the Eighth Wonder of the World, dancing, prancing, skipping and gyrating around the stage and around the ramp that jets into the crowd like a man of 30, singing in great voice all the while.

Among the highlights were 1969’s “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” that began with its a capella choral intro courtesy of The USC Thornton School Choir; a percussive “Sympathy for the Devil” and an extended “Midnight Rambler” that was enhanced by the playing of former lead guitarist Taylor, who was in the band from 1969-1974 and is on this tour as a special guest. Along the way, the band is being joined by guests. The Honda Center show saw John Mayer encoring last December’s performance with the band on Muddy Waters’ “Champagne and Reefer,” effortlessly outdueling guitarists Ron Wood and Keith Richards.

On the tour’s opening night at the Staples Center in L.A., No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani showed up to help out on “Wild Horses” and country star Keith Urban joined in on “Respectable.” Tom Waits was in Oakland at the Oracle Arena, where he and Mick Jagger sang Willie Dixon’s blues standard, “Little Red Rooster,” a song The Stones recorded 49 years ago in 1964 at Chicago’s iconic Chess Records recording studio, where Howlin’ Wolf recorded it in 1961 with Dixon on bass.

Bonnie Raitt sang “Let It Bleed” and John Fogerty joined on the early Stones’ hit, “It’s All Over Now” in San Jose. In Las Vegas, at the MGM Grand Arena, pop superstar Katy Perry joined Mick Jagger singing “Beast of Burden” from the group’s 6 x platinum 1977 No. 1 LP, “Some Girls.” At the final Honda Center show on May 19, Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl rocked out on “Bitch,” from 1971’s “Sticky Fingers” album. There were no guests joining in at the May 20 Staples Center gig, a show that Jagger said was the group’s last in Los Angeles, “for a while, anyway.”

For the past 22 years, the Follies have been a desert institution. Its cast is all over 50 with the oldest a spry and youthful 83. The Follies are wonderfully fun; a good old-fashioned, good-time review with a cadre of fine performers, most well-seasoned veterans of countless productions on Broadway – and with an array of dazzling and colorful costumes.

Gore opened her set with her fifth big smash, “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows,” that was the first hit written by a young 21-year-old Marvin Hamlisch. The set also included her final Top 20 biggie, Brill Building hit-writer Ellie Greenwich’s “California Nights,” that reached No. 16 in 1967.

Her first four singles in 1963-1964 all went Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 pop chart, and she sang them all in her perfect Lesley Gore voice: the aforementioned “It’s My Party,” as well as “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” the classic girl group song “She’s a Fool,” and “You Don’t Own Me,” that ended her set. “You Don’t Own Me” was one of the first major pop hits by a female vocalist with a blatantly feminist, Women’s Lib message of independence and empowerment.

The Follies takes each summer off because it’s three degrees hotter than hell in Palm Springs during those months. The 23 rd season begins Nov. 1. Among next season’s headliners are singing and dancing actress Susan Anton and singer Maureen McGovern, whose version of “The Morning After,” that was originally used in the 1972 disaster epic, “The Poseidon Adventure,” hit No. 1 the following year.

BEATLES GUITAR SELLS BIG

A custom-made Vox semi-hollow body guitar played by both George Harrison and John Lennon at Beatles sessions in 1967, was auctioned for $408,000, reports Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills. The guitar had been expected to sell for $200,000-$300,000. Harrison used it to practice his part on “I Am The Walrus,” while Lennon is seen using it at the “Hello Goodbye” video promo film shoot.

NEW RELEASES

Among the recently released albums, digital reissues, MP3 downloads and deluxe box sets are a 41-song, 2-CD, “The Beach Boys Live – The 50 th Anniversary Tour” that includes the gems “Marcella,” Bruce Johnston’s “Disney Girls,” their 1963 ode to “Hawaii,” the instrumental “Pet Sounds,” and Dennis Wilson’s “Forever;” “Live in Texas – October 6, 1973” from the supergroup Captain Beyond that included members of Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly and Johnny Winter’s And band that concludes with a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Stone Free;” and “True Believers,” the fourth solo album since 2002 from pop-rocker-turned-country star Darius Rucker, leader of Hootie and The Blowfish, that includes a duet with Sheryl Crow on “Love Without You.”

“Quartette Humane” is the first collaboration in a quarter-century from jazz masters keyboardist Bob James and sax player David Sanborn; “All This For a King” from Christian rockers The David Crowder Band; “Tap: John Zorn’s Book of Angels, Vol. 20,” from avant garde musician Zorn and 20-time Grammy-winning jazz guitarist Pat Metheny; 1974’s “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley – CD Deluxe” reissue with four bonus cuts from English rock singer Robert Palmer who suffered a fatal heart attack a decade ago at age 54 while on vacation in Paris with former Cream bassist Jack Bruce; and a 2-CD, “Remember the Future – 40 th Anniversary Deluxe Edition” from English-German prog rockers Nektar.

A 2-CD, “Time Out – Mono-Stereo Edition” from The Dave Brubeck Quartet; “A Little More Action Please: The Anthology 1970-1985” from country singer Mac Davis, includes “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” the No. 1 pop and easy listening smash he wrote, produced and sang in 1972; “Tarkus: Deluxe Edition (2-CD Set)” from Emerson, Lake and Palmer; former Genesis lead guitarist Steve Hackett’s import, “Genesis Revisited 2.”

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